BA welcomes support grants for shops closed by lockdown

The Booksellers Association has welcomed an announcement that shops forced to close because of England's lockdown are eligible for one-off grants of up to £9,000.

Extra money has been made available by the Treasury after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the country into a new lockdown, closing non-essential shops until at least mid-February owing to the spread of a new coronavirus variant and its impact on hospitals.

Provided on a per-property basis, the one-off grants award £4,000 for businesses with a rateable value of up to £15,000, £6,000 for those with a value between £15,000 and £51,000, and £9,000 for those valued over £51,000.

They come on top of business rates relief and the furlough scheme, which has been extended until the end of April.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “Throughout the pandemic we’ve taken swift action to protect lives and livelihoods and today we’re announcing a further cash injection to support businesses and jobs until the spring. This will help businesses to get through the months ahead - and crucially it will help sustain jobs, so workers can be ready to return when they are able to reopen.”

Meryl Halls, m.d. of the Booksellers Association, who called on the government this week to support retailers, said: “The grants for retail and hospitality announced by the chancellor are a very welcome investment in the frontline services represented by retailers, including booksellers, and will go some way towards keeping those businesses operational during this third lockdown in the UK.

“Though it’s a drop in the ocean compared to the lost turnover of 2020, especially over the Christmas period, it will for many businesses help them survive and, taken with the extension to the furlough scheme, allow them to continue employ their dedicated shopfloor booksellers, and keep offering crucial home ordering options to their customers, including online, call-and-collect, email and often home delivery.”

However, Waterstones m.d. James Daunt cast doubt on whether the sums on offer would be enough for indies and has called for other measures too.

He said: “I do think the government need to do more than token efforts to support other retailers. We're a big retailer, we've got a website and all the rest and are much more robust and able to withstand these kinds of things but I think £9,000 per business is probably not going to be enough to keep an awful lot of people going.”